Caption: MODEL RELEASED. Kidney transplant. Image 11 of 17. Close-up of surgeons performing a kidney transplant operation. Metal retractors are used to hold back the abdominal skin and flesh, providing the surgeons with access to the organ. Kidneys are transplanted to replace a failing or failed kidney. It is the safest and most commonly performed organ transplant. It has a high success rate, although recipients do need to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their life to prevent rejection. The donor kidney may come from a living or recently deceased donor and can be kept viable outside of the body for several days. For a sequence of images showing a kidney transplant see M575/068 to M575/084.